Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Welch’s passion for the outdoors was ignited by long, sun-soaked summers in the English countryside. His love for adventure has taken him from high-alpine ski slopes to remote rafting expeditions, shaping his deep appreciation for the elements and the need to protect skin from them.
A veteran brand and cultural strategist, Welch has worked with some of the world’s leading beauty and lifestyle brands, including Tom Ford, Estee Lauder, REN, Diesel, Axe, The North Face, and Nokia. Despite years of advocating for cleaner, more efficacious sun care, he encountered resistance from major brands unwilling to rethink the category. In the summer of 2020, he decided to change that and create his own line of advanced skincare for life outdoors. The idea for Utu was born.
We believe getting outdoors and into the sunshine is an essential for happiness and health.
As much as we love being outdoors, it means we expose our skin to elements like sunlight, wind, pollution, and extreme temperatures. These elemental conditions can cause sunburn, skin aging, and an increased risk of skin cancer, not to mention skin irritation and dryness.
Utu is the innovative skincare-suncare hybrid for all those who don’t want to choose between SPF performance and advanced skin nourishment. We know skincare without suncare isn’t skincare at all.
Named after the ancient Sumerian god of the sun, we’re on a journey to protect and rejuvenate our skin and our relationship with the outdoors. To connect with your truest self, we know you need to step away from the hustle and grind, escape your thinking brain, and tune in to the Earth. We can help with that.
Protect, nourish, rejuvenate
We believe that like our skin, our planet and the natural world must be protected, nourished, and rejuvenated. We are part of a much bigger picture, connected to everyone and everything around us and we all share in a responsibility of care, it’s as simple as that.
From day one we set out to use zero-plastic in our packaging. We believe you deserve to choose products that perform and deliver without fueling the constant use of a material that is polluting us and our planet. We make every effort to source non-plastic packaging and when this is not possible, we will ensure any plastic used is reusable.
We formulate our clean, outdoor skincare products using only the best, most effective and cruelty-free ingredients and never using chemical UV filters*, parabens, PEGS, petrolatum, synthetic fragrance, sulphates, phosphates, or formaldehyde.
Our broad Spectrum UVA/UVB protection comes from non-nano zinc oxide, which is recognized as the most effective and safest broad spectrum (UVA/UVB) sunscreen filter. Non-nano zinc oxide is a mineral, and its non-nano particles are too big to be absorbed by the skin unlike many chemical sunscreens, non-nano zinc oxide is reef-safe and aquatic-friendly.
*Free from all chemical sunscreen including oxybenzone and octinoxate as per Hawaii Act 104.
